“We have reached a point of no return” Russia’s most renowned librarian talks to ‘Meduza’ about state inspections, foreign agents, and cultural exchange

Renowned librarian and cultural critic Ekaterina
Genieva passed away on July 9 in Israel after a battle with cancer.
Genieva had served as the head of the All-Russia State Library of
Foreign Literature for nearly a quarter of a century, right up until her
death. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she also worked as the
President of George Soros’ Open Society Institute in Russia. This week, the Open Society Institutecame under government scrutiny
for “threatening Russia’s interests.” Authorities had also been paying
special attention to Genieva’s library, asking her to shut down the
American Cultural Center, one of many international organizations her
library hosts. Shortly before she passed away, Ekaterina Genieva was
interviewed by Katerina Gordeeva for Meduza. Genieva
shared her thoughts about the Ministry of Culture, about Russia’s “spy
fever,” and about the importance of cultural exchange.

Requirements
imposed on public educational and cultural projects are becoming ever
more stringent. Against this backdrop, the Library of Foreign Literature
looks almost provocative: it’s a whole community of intellectuals, you
have books about tolerance, you host concerts with musicians who have
gone out of favor with the state, you also host a dozen foreign cultural
centers in this building. How close are you to becoming a “foreign
agent?”